


Ace Detective

by Inkpot



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: And it gets resolved, Asexual Character, Gen, I apologise for the title but in the future of this 'verse Kaito totally makes that joke, Misunderstandings, OOCness, Platonic Relationships, You Have Been Warned, actually I already have the scene planned for it, only briefly though, projecting on characters because why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 05:59:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13001337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkpot/pseuds/Inkpot
Summary: Asexual Shinichi and how his friends and family react to his newly discovered identity.





	Ace Detective

**Author's Note:**

> I have returned! (with 50,029 shiny new words for my nanovel. am satisfied.)
> 
> Just wanted to let you know, I finally got around to making a tumblr to go with this account. Url is lessinkmoregraphite.tumblr.com. If the link doesn't work, check my profile for an updated link. Fair warning: I'll probably end up using that page for a mix of art and random thoughts, so follow at your own risk. :) Now back to relevant info.
> 
> I've been having a lot of ace feelings lately, and thus this happened. There's actually a fair bit of stuff I can see happening after this segment, but for the moment this is what I have. We'll see if I end up doing more.  
> This was partly inspired by my own experiences, by which I mean a couple of the scenes were based off actual events, so the characters may be a bit more OOC than I usually allow. Sorry about that. 
> 
> Just a last note, I have to say that one character's actions in particular may seem a bit unreasonable for them, but this isn't meant as character bashing. There are reasons for the scene going like that, and no ill will was meant.
> 
> With all that said, hope you enjoy the story!

Surprisingly enough, his time as Conan was what made Shinichi realize that maybe he wasn’t as straight as he thought. He still had feelings for Ran; that didn’t change. In fact, nothing about his feelings changed. And that was what tipped him off.

Because one of the things he’d been bracing for was the sudden lack of sexual desires common among boys his (actual) age. He’d expected some sort of dysphoria as his brain tried to reconcile a hormonal teen’s fantasies with a child’s body ill equipped to deal with that sort of thing. He’d expected discomfort, and frustration he couldn’t relieve. He’d expected… a lot of things, actually, some of them easier to pin down than others.

But as time went on he realized that none of that was happening. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that his lack of interest as Conan wasn’t any different from a lack of interest as Shinichi. Which was a bit of an earth-shattering realization.

Of course Ai caught him freaking out about it at a befuddled (but supportive, if not very helpful) Agasa. But rather than smirk and tease him for panicking over something so inconsequential, she dragged him to her computer, pulled up a web browser, and left him with a link to AVEN while she worked on something else across the room.

(She teased him a bit later for not thinking to do some research, investigation was something he should know about after all, but she never joked about his desires or lack thereof.)

 

“You’re claiming you can sense someone’s sexuality just by looking at them,” Shinichi said, utterly deadpan.

Kuroba shrugged. “More or less, yeah. That’s what gaydar means. It’s partly behavioral, so you can’t just point at some stranger and ask me to demonstrate. But I can say that I am very much bi, and Hakuba pings me as a closet gay.” Hakuba made an undignified squawking noise and fumbled his takeout containers. Kuroba caught the falling box and set it back on the stack without looking. “But I have to admit, you're one of the only people I've met that I can't get a read on.”

“Maybe because I’m ace.”

Kuroba paused and gave him a surprised look that quickly turned thoughtful. “Huh. That would explain it.”

Hakuba looked confused, but he didn't say anything. Shinichi suspected he was making plans to do some research once they’d parted ways. In any case, he appreciated the lack of comment. Hakuba’s detective instincts had to be pinging him and Kuroba probably wanted to crack a joke, but both of them just knew it wasn’t the time. Sometimes his friends could be pretty great.

 

“Kudo, my friend, my pal, I am in need of your advice!”

“Oh?” Shinichi said, managing an awkward smile for Hattori. It would be a little less awkward if this fangirl would stop hanging all over him, but the distraction from said fangirl was quite welcome.

More so when Hattori grabbed him by the arm to drag him away, knocking the girl’s hands off him in an almost accidental gesture. “Yeah, and it’s urgent, so sorry gotta go!” Those last not-very-apologetic words were directed at the baffled girl as they moved rapidly away.

Shinichi pulled free once they were well away from her. “So did you actually have something to talk about, or should I just thank you for the save?”

Hattori grinned and folded his hands behind his head. “No need for thanks. I saw you from across the room, and you had the… uh…” He waved vaguely at his face.

“My ‘too ace for this’ face?” Shinichi offered with a wry grin.

“Yeah. That.” A flash of uncertainty passed over Hattori’s face before he leaned in, careful to make sure nobody could overhear them. “Listen, Kudo. I, uh, wasn’t exactly the best about it when you first brought it up, but-”

“I told you it’s fine, don’t worry about it.” And that was the plain truth. Hattori had gotten over his initial hesitance pretty fast, anyway, and Shinichi knew his friend well enough to know that anything he might have said in the heat of the moment was more out of frustration at his own ignorance than anything against Shinichi’s identity.

Hattori grimaced. “Yeah, well, I still shouldn’t have acted like that. So I want to make sure you know that even if I don’t really get it, I’m still with you. You know?”

Shinichi’s smile softened into something grateful. “I know. But thanks.”

“Of course.” There was a beat of silence before he continued. “Anyway, I really do have a case I wanted to ask about, so if you’re up for it…”

Shinichi only barely stifled his laugh. A day they spent together and didn’t run into a case would have to be the biggest miracle he’d ever seen. “Alright, let’s see it.”

 

“Are you sure it’s not too soon to know?”

Shinichi’s thoughts froze for a moment, and he sat staring at Ran with his glass held halfway through the motion of taking a gulp of water (thankfully he hadn’t swallowed just yet) for a long moment before he managed to set it down. “What?”

She looked distinctly uncomfortable, but replied anyway. “We’re just teenagers. How can you be so sure that you won’t, I don’t know, change your mind someday?”

That stung a bit, even if he’d been prepared for it from the time he first decided to come out. “Ran, just because we’re young doesn’t mean we can’t discover ourselves.”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“That doesn’t mean I won’t keep discovering myself,” he continued, keeping his expression serious rather than annoyed. (He may have practiced beforehand in a mirror just in case this sort of thing happened.) “And maybe one day I’ll feel different. But right now is what matters. Right now this is who I am, and you shouldn’t count on that changing.”

Ran stared back at him for a moment, eyes wide, before ducking her head down to sip at her drink. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s a common belief,” he said with a reassuring smile. That had gone better than he’d expected.

 

Shinichi resisted the urge to sigh as Yukiko continued prattling on about the wonderful dates he and Ran would go on. Which, they probably would, that was the _point_ of being together, but he could do without the bonus innuendos. Bad enough that he had to hear it at all (he felt awkward enough about his sexuality without the comments, thanks), but from his mom? _Again?_

“Yup, still too ace for this,” he grumbled under his breath, flipping another page in his book. The sound of the paper rustling was just loud enough that he didn’t notice the silence in the room for a long moment.

When it finally registered, he looked up to see her standing frozen in the middle of the room, expression unreadable. “Is… everything okay?”

In the next moment, he let out a slightly embarrassing yelp as he received a hug tight enough that he could feel his ribs creaking. She didn’t seem to notice his squawks about the cure and fragile bone structure. If anything her grip tightened further before she finally released him, holding him at arm’s length with that same strange expression. She held him there for a long moment, just looking at him. Then her usual smile broke across her features and she returned to her previous chatter, but (mostly) sans innuendos.

Shinichi figured that was the end of her strangeness and decided to set those thoughts aside for later, up until she stopped him with a hand on his shoulder when he was just about to head out.

“Shin-chan…” She hesitated only briefly before continuing. “You know we’ll always love you, no matter what, right?”

He blinked, momentarily confused about where the sentiment was coming from (not that she didn’t frequently express her love in an over-exuberant fashion but this was a lot more serious), before recalling their earlier interaction. He huffed and adjusted his bag to avoid any unwanted displays of emotion. “Of course, Kaa-san. You say it all the time.”

From the way she beamed at him, he knew he hadn’t quite covered how much that affected him. But he couldn’t bring himself to care too much.

**Author's Note:**

> Just gonna state for the record, in this au there's at least one other aspec character. I haven't decided for sure with others. 
> 
> Again, find me on tumblr at lessinkmoregraphite.tumblr.com


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